The shows just keep getting better and better. Last night was no
exception...Amy was great.
As usual, many of us crazies started the day by going to Soundcheck. Got tons of
great pictures since this was an outdoor show, so there was lots of light in the
late afternoon. Amy came out, did a couple songs including "She Colors My Day"
which I've never heard live,
1974,
Love of Another
Kind etc. Amy also asked how many were repeat offenders, then
noted that she recognized so many of us who have been following her around
California. We must be making an impression because before she came out, Chris
Eaton had also said, "Oh look, it's that familiar front row again." After soundcheck, everyone was so behaved, we just sat there waiting to be escorted
out. Amy kind of looked lost or confused, like "why is nobody coming to the
stage to talk to me?" - she must have been in a great mood, because instead of
leaving, she came down off the stage and into the audience where the 20 of us
were, and just started going down the row talking to us one at a time, taking
pictures, signing a few things here and there. There were only 20 of us, so it
didn't take more than 30 minutes to get through the crowd, and half of us have
been to many LMO shows already.The show started off a little slower...just like Bakersfield. Of course, I stood up to dance for Love of Another Kind, as did Jake, Nicole, and the girls. They were in the front right, I was in the middle section, 3 rows back and very much alone in my dancing. So as not to make the show all about John, or to be a distraction to the people around me, I ran to the front right and danced w/them.
As she was finishing El Shaddai, I also ran up to the front right, so we could dance together for my favorite song - Sing Your Praise. However, that really wasn't necessary because by the time people recognized the introduction, the entire place was jumping around. I did notice that on the "claps," Amy kept looking to the side where we were, and doing the claps with us. Probably because after so many shows (this must have been Jake's 5th show or something), we finally were able to do it in sync with her.
After Chris Eaton's song, I made my way down to the front again, and dragged
Ryan with me this time, so we could all dance from the front. I told him we were
gonna stay there until the end of the show. Amy changed the mix on Wise Up...It
was different than it was in Irvine and Bakersfield...a slightly different
instrumental. As she was ending Angels, I grabbed some of our little group on
the side, and made us move towards the center. Looks like Jen took a pic and
posted to her blog titled "A Near Mosh Pit" - we probably got about 20 people
down front...nothing like Bakersfield where it was packed, but a good enough
crowd to and we had a blast. Another highlight of these last few songs was
dancing with Braden. I gave the a glowstick I happened to have in my bag (Thanks
to Josie who gave them to us in Bakersfield), and he looked like he was having
the time of his life dancing on the side with us. I told him to wave to Amy...it
was so cute...she of course saw him and waved back and touched her chest a few
times - you could tell how it touched her to see little Braden dancing and
waving to her - it was the cutest scene, and you can tell that Braden is very
special to Amy.
The encore was different - she did "She Colors My Day" and the most exciting
thing was that the entire audience stood up for the full encore. Even the slow
non-dance songs. I hadn't seen this at a show yet, and slowly but surely, the
pit also filled up. Not with dancers, but with everyone coming to take pictures.A group of 4 of us waited at the buses. This was the first time of all the LMO shows that there was actually a crowd of people - maybe 20. That was kind of neat. Of course, after waiting about an hour, Justin came out and said something to security then disappeared. Next thing you know, security asked us all to leave, so we of course respected their wishes and left. I'm beginning to wonder though if this tour is tiring Amy out too much. I've never had such bad luck at the buses afterwards, and this was an early show. So I'm guessing Amy must be really exhausted or else, I'd assume she would want to stick around and talk to those crazies waiting afterwards to get something signed and to say hello.
This has been a fun week - it's been great to hang out with Jake, Nicole (and daughters!), Ryan D, Lionel (who wasn't at Morgan Hill since he was getting Ryan J, Josie, Jeanette...woo hoo!!! Can't wait to see Ryan J tonight) and everyone else. You crazy Californians who just follow her from show to show...I think Nicole had the right idea...next time we go on tour w/Amy, we need to just rent a bus and all go together! You guys are the most fun fans, so thank you for making this a memorable tour.
